Mechanical Love Season 3 AU (RESUMING UPDATES)
by Eris Raslad
Summary: (Some minor adjustments have been made to pre-existing chapters!) So what if PIXAL had been human, mechanically enhanced just like Zane, except for one big problem, the conversion to cyborg hindered her ability to emote. Zane falls in love with his future other half and tries to show her how to feel again.
1. Chapter 1

Kai

Since the defeat of the overlord life had been pretty uneventful. No new threats arose and crime was at an all time low.

We had to get real jobs to accommodate for our newly found free time and I have to say that teaching is the biggest drag I can think of, but its a living and it's all we've got...

All of us except for Lloyd, who was getting his recognition for being the golden ninja, became professors and opened up our own academy, Sensei Wu's academy to be exact. Somehow we managed to get parents to send their kids to us as students, and we didn't charge much for them to enter into our program and so quite a few of the townspeople had their kids studying with us.

They weren't so bad, just normal kids; normal, energetic, wily, brats, and I was giving them a lecture on different types of clouds, preparing a video explaining the many variations and sub variations of the condensation formations in the sky.

My projector was an ancient thing, one that required those massive old reels of tape video, though after some time I was able to mount the reel and get it playing. It was not what I had expected.

In the video is our bathroom, by this I mean mine and my brother's. This bathroom is one of two we all must share in our little apartment, and in the mirror Jay can be seen carrying a camera. I'm heard in the shower singing pretty badly, but cameras always ruin the sound of someone's voice so I don't let my pride slip.

But I do remember this, actually; in the video I heard Jay's footsteps and snatched the curtain back, glaring angrily at the blue ninja. "Hey!? How about a little privacy you-"

_Ohhhh...didn't remember that part!_

I switched off the projector quickly before the kids heard the curse escape my digital lips.

"Whoa!" I muttered. "This isn't supposed to be in here." I tried to take the tape reel off of my projector but I was having serious troubles. It was dark in the room and I couldn't see what I was doing. "Lights please."

One of my students stood to get the lights, meanwhile my students are all cackling.

_Damn this is a tough egg to crack..._

I got the reel on but how was it supposed to come back off!? I didn't have to fasten any clips or anything when I'd installed it, even so it was stuck and I started to tug on the roll of film, ready to give up when it dropped from the ancient machine with a loud clunk and rolled towards the doorway.

"Ugh...seriously!?" I asked no one in particular, moving to pick it up when a kid entered the room; he was not from my class.

"Come quick!" He demanded, gesturing for my students to follow. "Mr. Zane is on the fritz!"

Oh boy. That couldn't be good.

All of my students immediately rushed from my room to go and view what was no doubt going to be a spectacle, so I was stuck behind the youthful masses when I went to investigate the problem.


	2. Chapter 2

Zane

_How is this even possible!?_

I was only partially mechanical and yet somehow Bradley was able to control my actions by remote.

_What kind of devil remote did this child buy?_

I stood atop my desk, forcibly dancing and moving about at the expense of my dignity for the children that giggled merrily below.

"What's going on here?" Calls a familiar and relieving voice. It is Cole, pushing past the students and making clear headway into my room.

Marla, one of my favorite students believe it or not, glanced at him, beaming just as brightly as the other students who thought controlling my free will was amusing. "Brad got an ultra remote from New NinjaGo City and it's controlling Mr. Zane!" She informed him with more glee than I'd hoped.

I looked down pleadingly at Cole with a whimper, and he proceeded to push past a few more of the children to snag the remote from Bradley.

He started to attack the buttons and dials, quickly becoming frustrated. "How do you turn this thing off?"

His actions upon the remote do not help me in the slightest, in fact it got a little worse, and all of this involuntary movement was starting to seem like it could soon become harmful.

"Hurry up, Cole." I pleaded. "I feel as though I'm becoming less stable!"

Cole ground his teeth together, making his way to my desk's edge and beating the remote against it. With a quiet grunt of effort and one solid final blow, the device shattered and I felt my muscles relax. I gave in to the release of tension, slumping down into a sitting position and bowing my head with a heavy and tired groan.

Bradley retorted, clearly unhappy. "Mr. Cole is the worst!"

And Cole, unhappy with the rude comment, pointed accusingly at the child. "I heard that!"

The school bell rang and all the students rush from the room, cheering for their own release into freedom.

Cole walks to my desk and sits, leaning tiredly against it. I slip down from my perch, taking a spot next to him.

"Ah...recess..." He begins. "My favorite time of the day."

We both shared a tired sigh.


	3. Chapter 3

Cole

Our break room was pretty great. I'd say maybe a seven out of ten. We had to hire the contractors and all to build the academy and they didn't do a terrible job...though there wasn't a coffee bar...a coffee bar would have been nice.

But there was pudding in the fridge and well that was as close to coffee or cake as I was gonna get. So I snagged it up and started munching happily as the others started to enter.

Kai was first, after Zane and I, and Sensei Wu was even before us.

Jay came last, moving swiftly to the fridge and searching the contents.

"Alright..." He began, turning to us with a hand on his hip. "Who took my pudding cup? My name was clearly written on it!"

I glanced at the side of my own pudding cup, oh...and there was his name, but I shrugged it off, tossing the cup into the nearby trash can.

"I didn't see "motor mouth" in it!" I said, crossing my arms behind my head with a grin.

Jay's brows furrowed in frustration, and he glared at me. "I'm telling the headmaster!" He exclaimed childishly.

"Leave me out of it." Wu says, in the adjacent room getting some tea. "I'm on break too.

Kai was across the room, pulling a pack of pudding from his bag. "Relax, Jay, you can have mine." And he throws it to the blue ninja, who decides to whine some more.

"But this isn't cold." He complained, sparking a response in Zane. He used some of his elemental power in low concentration, cooling Jay's treat to an optimum temperature.

And so the blue ninja began to eat the pudding happily, many noises of food-related bliss expressed before he started to speak again. "Is anyone else chapped that Lloyd gets to be the Golden Ninja and fly around accepting awards while we're stuck here being teachers with no powers?"

Wu walked into the room with the rest of us, watching Jay silently while he stood beside Kai.

Jay sighed. "I miss our elemental weapons."

At that Nya rushed into the room, the last of our group, slamming the door shut behind her. On the other side the boys can be heard fawning all over her.

"Hi, Miss Nya."

"I like your dress, Miss Nya."

She walked in further, looking for a seat so she could relax. "Why is it that when I teach, I get the feeling that none of the boys are listening?" She asked.

Jay smiled like a loser, walking up to her. "H-hi Miss Nya...I saved you some pudding."

Nya offered him a stern stare, a teasing one, but one none-the-less. "What did we talk about?"

Jay bowed his head for a moment. "Oh, right. Boundaries." Then he returned to his couch, still eating his prize noisily.

Nya stood next to Jay anyways despite her need for boundaries. "Hey, did you guys hear the news?"

"There's trouble?" Kai asked.

"Danger?" Jay queried.

"An emergency?" Zane hoped.

"Oh!" I joined. "A new menace?"

We all assumed battle stances, so ready to kick some ass, but Jay dropped his spoon last minute, ruining the intensity of the moment.

"No." Nya laughed. "We got clearance for a field trip!"

We all groaned in disappointment, heading to sit back down, but Nya wasn't finished talking.

"Not just any field trip!" She continued. "A field trip to tour Borg Industries."

Jay gasped almost excessively loud, bringing his hands to his face. "Not the Borg Industries." He said with a slight fan-girlish squeak. "As in home to super genius reclusive savant Cyrus Borg? Inventor of the hover car and everything else cool in this world!?"

Zane kicked Jay in the butt to get him to calm down and Jay grunted in pain as a retort, rubbing his backside with a pout.

Kai walked into the other room, getting tea. "Who cares about Cyrus Borg? If you ask me, people should concern themselves with..."

I rolled my eyes and with a quick gesture we left. Nobody wanted to hear a lecture from Kai, so we rushed to gather the kids, and soon, though grudgingly, he joined back up with us.


	4. Chapter 4

Zane

The bus was crowded indeed and the children, though excited for the trip, were disappointed in the cozy transportation accommodations we had provided for them.

"Why can't we take Ultra Dragon?" Bradley queried, quite possibly the most disappointed of all of them. "Or the Ultra Sonic Raider?"

Cole stood at the front of the bus, pointing at the slightly whining child. "Because." He mysteriously implored. "They don't have one of these!" He scooped up the paging device and the bus speakers let out a shrill wail of feedback as he did so. "Pretty cool, huh?" He asked, voice resonating throughout the vehicle. "I'm on a microphone! I am the MC. The Mighty Cole!" He was one to enjoy putting it on a show, I hadn't put it past him in the slightest and was not surprised when he started dancing down the aisle.

"Mr. Cole is the worst..." Bradley complained, crossing his arms and looking out of the window.

He turned to the child, glaring at him, and still on the intercom he spoke accusingly at him. "I heard that."

Cole then put the pager away and sat in a seat, Kai sitting in one adjacent to him.

"So we really are going back to the city..." He said, pondering this. "We haven't been there since...well, you know."

Sensei Wu finally boarded the bus, sitting in the seat behind Nya, who was in the driver seat. "Yesterday is gone." He said. "Tomorrow has not yet come. We only have today..." We thought he was speaking some of his legendary wisdom, but in reality he was using his witty brand of humor to make a point to our driver. "Or else this offer expires." He finished. "Get a move on, Nya."

I could see Nya trying not to laugh out loud as she started the bus. "Aye, aye, Sensei." And thus we were off.

The outskirts were little less than ordinary, we lived in them, the other ninja and I, so we saw these plains nearly every day. That made the sight of the city that much more shocking. I'd seen pictures of massive capitals that looked like this. Tokyo, Japan. Kyoto. Seoul, Korea...

The sight was absolutely remarkable. It was just so shockingly neon and colorful and blatantly elating. I, along with the kids, stared out of the windows in wonder, excited to leave the bus and explore this beautiful new landscape that we used to call our home.

"Welcome to New Ninjago City." An electronic billboard greeted. "The future is what we make it."

"Wow." Nya breathed, looking out of her own window. "You leave town a short while and-" in her distraction she failed to see the incoming driver, the tires screeched madly as she tried to regain control, but it was too late, we crashed head first into the other vehicle. She cried out with fear at the impact.

Some of the windows on our bus were open so we could hear the man in the other car shouted at us.

"Ugh! Who here still uses wheels anymore?" He cried angrily. "Get with the program!" He shook his fist to add a dramatic touch.

Cole left the bus, cracking his knuckles. "Don't worry, we'll free you up." He flexed then, making himself look little less than overly-egotistical. "Time for some old-school muscle tool." He, of course being the physically strongest ninja, lifted the hover car, at the same time lifting the bus, freeing it so it was no longer pinned beneath ours.

At that moment a large mechanical droid approached Cole, looking down at him. "Stand back, pedestrian." It demanded.

Cole turned to the robot, glaring at it. "Who are you calling pedestrian!?"

I got out of my seat and went to the bus doors, gesturing to Cole. "It appears our help is not welcome."

Wu stood from his seat as well, moving to my side. "Well, I prefer traveling the old-fashioned way...on foot." Then he slipped past me and exited the bus along with the others. "Besides, it's not like we can't find where we're going."

We had crashed right in front of Borg Industries, and so we all proceeded up the stairs and into the building while the massive drone took care of the wreck.

With a glance back behind me I realized that Kai has his foot stuck, as the automatic door did not seem to be in proper order.

He grunted in frustration and with a light chuckle I faced back forward.

And quite thankfully so.

A woman entered the room from the left, approaching us in quick succession. "Welcome to Borg Industries." She greeted. "I'm PIXAL, Cyrus's Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Live-form."

She was absolutely striking, skin pale like cream with a soft silvery undertone and small round patches of darker silver sheen connected by faint lines, like veins but much more uniform; hair like platinum, made up nicely in a traditional Asian bun, and she wore a pewter uniform with purple hems, a symbol on the left breast that translated roughly into "strength".

Her eyes were most alluring, startling emerald green almost flashing like the neon lights of the city.

"I'm sorry to hear about the traffic accident." She told us all, glancing from face to face.

I was stricken speechless.

Cole moved to my side, seeming shocked. "Wow, news travels fast."

PIXAL nodded to him "Everything in New Ninjago City is fully automated and interconnected." She paused. "Your antiquated bus should be ready shortly."

She looked to me directly, my heart nearly stopping, and for a moment when she approached me personally I believed it may have skipped a beat.

"You are Zane, a droid like me." She stated with a tilt of the head.

_She knows me? _I thought. _She knows who I am! _Though in reality, her knowledge of me shouldn't have come off as such a shock.

"What does "Zane" stand for?" She asked, monotone and yet with just the mildest hint of curiosity.

_What...what did that mean?_

_What does "Zane" stand for?_

_Well what do I stand for?_

_Think straight Zane._

"I stand for peace, freedom and courage in the face of all who threaten Ninjag-"

This time Jay approached me, grabbing my arm. "She means your name, tin head." He explained.

PIXAL stood and watched me observantly as if she didn't realize my mistake, and I prickled and grew warm in embarrassment.

Sheepishly I smiled. "I guess I'm just Zane."

She looked on even longer. "Permission to scan?"

I froze, flustered, and swallowing hard. I felt like a deer in headlights but...in a good way. "Uh...Permission granted?"

I heard Jay giggle as she circled me with green eyes practically ablaze. "Heh, check it out. Zane has an admirer."

_Please Jay, don't..._

She finished looking me over and returned her eyes to mine.

"Your hardware is outdated and your processor is slow and incompatible with ours..."

_Oh... _I though, disheartened.

"Peculiar." She continued. "All droids must recharge our batteries, yet curiously, I'm unable to locate your energy source."

She reached out and put a hand on my chest. I may as well have been dead as many times as my heart had stuttered in the past few moments.

"What powers you?" She asked, shining eyes gazing into mine, searching for answers.

"I, uh..." I let my eyes fall to where her hand touched my torso, blushing a little. "I...don't know."

She turned from me, returning her attentions to the others. "Mr. Borg would like to see the ninja on the one hundredth floor. If the others would follow me for the rest of the tour."

She began to walk away, leading Sensei and the children that followed.

Kai finally broke free of the door, grunting something angrily and catching up to us.

I continued to follow PIXAL with my eyes as she walked out of the room into an adjacent hall, completely mesmerized, but sadly, a voice calling for me broke me from my thoughts.

"Hey, Zane, you with us?" Cole queried.

I gave him my attentions, seeing his hands perched impatiently on his hips. I smiled with assurance and moved into the elevator with the three. I'd not had enough of my new feelings yet, but I had to remain calm now, because up we were going to meet Cyrus Borg.


	5. Chapter 5

PIXAL

That man was so strange; his structure did not make sense to me. As I toured about the building with the group of children provided I pondered how he was even functional with so little of his framework actually mechanical. He did not have a central processor or an engine or anything of that sort, but I was not one to worry to a deep extent over such matters, not when my current task was more important.

I led the group of kids into a room where our prototypes and three dimensional blueprints were stored, they opened upon detecting our presence and rotated slowly so that the youthful tour group could view it from every aspect.

"Mr. Borg believes technology is the key to making our dreams come true." I stated, pausing to assure everyone got a good look.

"Woah!" One of the older children exclaimed. "Cool beyond cool!"

Other kids followed in the cheering and oos and aahs and talked among themselves noisily, and I continued the tour.

Some segmented, half circle digital screens rotated around on one side of the room so the kids could see the advanced devices more easily.

"Even now, he is working on a Digiverse where the gamer will be digitally scanned in to take gaming to another level." I added, even more gasps of excitement sounded as the men in the chairs and their helmets played with their minds, their bodies appearing and acting on the screens.

We moved on from this room more quickly than I had expected, with little commentary needed, and while I had no use to speak, I found my mind curiously wandering back to my thoughts on the white ninja, Zane.


	6. Chapter 6

Zane

We rode the elevator to the apex of the building, the doors opening straight into Borg's office, much to my surprise.

"I would've guessed ninja to sneak in a window, not use the elevator." He teased, sitting at his desk and keying away at something on his computer.

Jay squealed girlishly. "Ah! Oh, my gosh. Are you-? Are you-?"

"Cyrus Borg?" He said, finishing Jay's question. "Yes." He ran his hand through his hair as a slightly nervous gesture for himself more than anyone.

"Unfortunately, when my parents gave me a name like that, my future in technology was predetermined."

He stepped out from behind his desk, only his legs were not at all what I expected. He sat in a strange vehicle that looked similar to the body of a spider. I dropped the device that I held in hand, previously examining it but now a bit too shocked to focus on anything other than this mechanical arachnid.

Jay giggled awkwardly and Cyrus chuckled, knowing what we were all thinking.

"Ah, yes, these. Sadly, I've been disabled most of my life. But it's nothing my mind couldn't fix." He smiled for a moment before turning to me. "Speaking of which...my deepest condolences, Zane." He paused. "I heard about your father." He moved closer to me and patted my shoulder. "Oh, he was a brilliant mind. He would have fit right in."

I had almost rid myself of the heartache of losing my father, what an inconvenient and public time to be reminded, but I smiled graciously at the inventor and pretended his words hadn't stirred those emotions up again. "Thank you. But loss is inevitable..."

Strangely enough, at this statement the inventor's eyes lit up with excitement. "Today maybe, but not tomorrow!" He gestured around his office at his various machines and gadgets. "Technology is making the impossible possible. The only limit to our potential is that which we don't dream."

Kai scoffed rudely, crossing his arms. "Isn't this the same place the Overlord was destroyed?" He asked. "Who dreamed up the idea of building a corporate headquarters here?"

Cyrus still pursued his optimistic attitude, focusing on Kai. "Ah good question! What better way is there to send a message to evil that we won't cower to anyone?" He returned his attentions to the lot of us once more. "I see...or better yet, I don't see the Golden Ninja."

Cole shrugged at this. "Oh yeah, his hands are a bit full right now, but we can tell him to stop by when we see him."

"Oh no, no, no." Cyrus replied with a shake of his head and slight approach. "I'm not bothered that it's just you four. I just wanted to give all of you a gift."

This elicited a grin from the black ninja. "A gift? Won't say no to that." He said with a chuckle. "Uh...it wouldn't happen to be cake would it?"

Cyrus flitted around the lot of us now, going to his desk and retrieving a box. When he returned to us he removed the lid of the box to reveal multiple sets of keys. "These are to a prototype vehicle I've been working on. So far two of them work as I intended, and have been approved for civilian use." He beamed. "S-see, your group has an array of people who all are likely to have places to go, things to do, all at the same time, and so I've taken the liberty of making a super vehicle, if you will, each one custom to the family's specific seating needs. As a whole, this car is your standard multi-passenger transportation unit, but say one of you needs to...get groceries for example, no need to take the entire machine with you! Each seat in this car can be separated and transformed into its own solitary vehicle, all with the push of a button on its respective key." He paused to take a breath, clearly proud of this invention. "And so in this box are keys for each "seat", per se, and then there is a master key to control the unit when more than half of the seats remain combined, j-just as a thank you for saving the city."

He being closest to me, handed me the box, and I was dumbfounded. This was so generous of him, I almost felt guilty even holding the keys to this gift.

"I..." I couldn't find the words to speak, so I supposed it was a good thing that Cole was not so shocked.

"Ha...so no cake?" He asked jokingly, strolling to me and fishing through the box. "It'll do I guess." He added with another degree of sarcastic humor. "But I got dibs on driving it first!"


End file.
